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Last week my wife and I took the roadster to Las Vegas. While we were there we took a drive to Mount Charleston, in just 45 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip we were having breakfast on the patio at The Mount Charleston Lodge in the forest at 7,700 feet elevation. I highly recommend the drive if you're in Las Vegas. It's an amazing contrast to the desert below. Unfortunately we didn't realize until we had returned to town that we could have taken a turn off to reach the ski resort at about 9,000 feet. (We'll do that next year.)
Las Vegas is 400 miles from home and we averaged 29.6 MPG for the entire trip including some in-town driving!
For those of you who are wondering, yes we actually won a little money too.

I've heard of going up Mt. Charleston while in Vegas and it sounds invigorating. Hard to believe that you climb that high and only 45 minutes later you're at the top. I can't wait to get there myself in my car!

The drive is a gradual and fairly straight climb, not as twisty as driving in the Sierras like I'm used to closer to home. Las Vegas is at about 2,000 feet to start with but the change in climate is amazing.

Anyone coming to Las Vegas should take some time to escape from the heat and the crowds on the strip by taking the relatively short drive up Interstate 95 to Mt. Charleston. The scenery is terrific and the drive is quite relaxing. Be careful of the locals and their pickup trucks, as they always seem to be in a big hurry. I particularly like to visit a small meadow just short of the ski area...very quiet, very relaxing and cool even on the hottest summer days.